Help Me Achieve Luxury Silence out of a 93 Honda Civic

[SupaMonkey 0]

Hey Guys,

So I have a 93 Honda Civic Sedan and Im looking to achieve some modern age luxury car silence out of this thing. Now, you might think that isnt too hard but I have swapped out the standard 1.6 engine for a new JDM Type R 2.0 liter engine with a fat exhaust.

I've got solid engine mounts that send vibrations throughout the car to make matters much worse.

Now, Ive gone with good ol' Second Skin for my brand of choice and getting it locally via the Second Skin representation since I am from South Africa.

Now, Ive plastered Damplifier Pro throughout the interior of the vehicle (1 layer, with a 2nd layer in the boot area and outter layer of the doors) (but have nothing on the roof). Ive also got a layer of Luxury Liner Pro from front to back (as far high as the dash allows me to as far back as and including the boot area).

Now, when Im cruising around at 2,000 rpm (which is hardly the case), its acceptably quiet - however; go past that and you have to start screaming at eachother in the car (eg: cruising at 100kph @ about 3.4k RPM).

Heat is also a bit of an issue, sunny SA gets 30-40 degree celsius springs/summers and my car is black to top things off!

Whats next to achieve my goal? (below some steps of things Im thinking of doing, though Im all ears to opinions / thoughts / suggestions!)

- Apply Damplifier Pro to the roof to help the noise and heat?

- Apply Heat Wave Pro to the roof to help with the heat?

- Im pretty sure I can fit some Luxury Liner Pro in the doors without interfering with "internals"; just a bit worried about it actually staying stuck with normal contact adhesive

- Apply Overkill Pro inbetween the door panels and the doors (Im hoping it can actually compress that much or should I rather go with regular Overkill)?

- Apply Spectrum to the engine bay?

- Apply Spectrum to the underbody of the car?

- Apply Thermal Block to the firewall and exhaust tunnel?

Thats about all I can think about or am I missing something? Am I asking too much and just wasting my time with these goals?

Edited October 14, 2012 by SupaMonkey

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Fill it up with concrete and dump it in the river. That's the only way that tin can will be "luxury car" quiet, especially with the fart pipe on it.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Seriously though, it's not a great platform for quiet, and if you wanted quiet, why install the obnoxious exhaust? I know you're only working with what you've got, but you can't polish a turd. I spent years doing that in my Cobra, and it's just not made to be quiet.

[pmureika 31]

Solid engine mounts and everything else. Its a racing car not a sound machine!

[SupaMonkey 0]

Ive been thinking of changing the bushings on the engine mounts to lessen the vibrations carried through - just need to find a place locally that does that.

So the thoughts so far is to not waste my time any further?

Maybe Im just mixing to much sentimental value in this formula without enough rationalism going in, but I was really hoping to bring these goals to reality

If you can quiet something like a Subaru WRX STI (apparently?) then why not something like my car?

Edited October 14, 2012 by SupaMonkey

[Tirefryr 1,742]

The WRX is built quite a bit better. Thicker steel, more welds, better structure, etc. . . Not saying it can't be done, but it will take more product, more time, effort, and money. If you have sentimental attachment to the car and want to tackle it, go for it, but you'd be be better off saving your money and working with a better platform.

[ssh 924]

At the least I would deaden the doors.

Apply cld tiles to sheet metal panels. About 25% coverage to control resonance.

Sheet of mlv over the sheet metal. You can use velcro for mounting.

CCF between mlv and actual plastic door panel to reduce any panel rattle.

I'm not sure if he'll ship to SA, but you can always try: http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

If you end up using the second skin since it's local for you, then your going to be looking at damplifier = cld, luxury liner = mlv, overkill = ccf.

Edited October 14, 2012 by stefanhinote

[Quentin Jarrell 671]

Most highend vehicles use close cell foam 1 to 2 inches thick under the carpet.

I have a distributor I buy from locally that sells a mass loaded mat made for high end home theater installs.

In my 2010 civic road noise was horrible. I lined the entire floor, up the fire wall, completely stuffed the void between the door panels and inside door skins and between the rear deck and the deck paneling. Now it's as quiet as a 7 series BMW.

[SupaMonkey 0]

Thanks Quentin; though your car is newer than mine; youve still given me a glimmer of hope

Also, having read what this guy did with just QuietCoat/QuietCar which I can safely assume is like Spectrum; Im pretty confident that I can still get some good gains by doing the undercarriage and wheel wells of my car.

[Quentin Jarrell 671]

It may be newer but it had no material for noise reduction what so ever. A few pieces strategically placed for resonance but literally nothing between the carpet and sheet metal if the car for road noise. It's now a night and day difference.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I would love to give people demo's of my full SDS treated car. VERY quite, even under heavy throttle and a CAI.

[Kangaroux 47]

I would love to give people demo's of my full SDS treated car. VERY quite, even under heavy throttle and a CAI.

The only thing I've ever wondered about cars setup to be very low road noise is it harder to hear sirens?

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I would love to give people demo's of my full SDS treated car. VERY quite, even under heavy throttle and a CAI.

The only thing I've ever wondered about cars setup to be very low road noise is it harder to hear sirens?

Eh, not really. The glass is still the same, outside of a layer of tint, so sirens will still get through no problem. It can really depend on the frequencies outside the car.